“Yuan Jing? You’ve got your eye on him?”
Shen Yi happened to wander over to Fan Qing and noticed the documents on his desk.
But the name Yuan Jing felt vaguely familiar.
He tilted his head and looked at the photo.
He froze.
“…Damn! This guy can’t be Jing Yuan’s twin, right?”
“No.”
Fan Qing casually closed the files and tucked them into the drawer.
“Jing Yuan was an orphan. Yuan Jing had parents, but they died in a car accident the year he was born. He does have a grandmother, though.”
“…Sounds like they could be from the same family.”
Shen Yi touched his freshly cut hair.
An orphan, someone with parents who died early… that was really similar, wasn’t it?
“I don’t think they’d appreciate you saying that,” Fan Qing said, raising an eyebrow.
“Second Young Master, you’re free today?”
Shen Yi hummed.
“Well, they mentioned the company recently signed a few new people, so I thought I’d come by and take a look.”
After all, these were future ‘money trees’ for him. He couldn’t arrange them directly, but a quick glance wouldn’t hurt—if he ran into any familiar faces while out, all the better.
Shen Yi knew the tricks of the industry quite well. With his reputation, he might even save one or two promising rookies.
“Oh?”
Fan Qing guessed Shen Yi’s plan in an instant.
He nodded and pulled out a stack of files.
“Here’s a list. Take it with you.”
He tapped the desk.
“If you see these two people, pay extra attention.”
“Who?”
Shen Yi looked curious.
Which two could have caught Fan Qing’s eye?
“Yuan Jing and one other, Hua Er,” Fan Qing said.
“Hua Er?”
Shen Yi read the name aloud, then laughed.
“That’s a fun name. Paired with Hua Zi, that makes… Waltz?”
He was grinning ear to ear.
“No, I have to show this to Hua Zi—let me see what this guy actually looks like…”
Jin Yi’s words gradually trailed off.
He rubbed his eyes slowly.
“…W-what the hell?”
If he wasn’t mistaken, this Hua Er looked…
“…Ning came all the way here just for this?”
The fleeting sense of gratitude that Hua Zi had felt instantly vanished.
He sipped the milk tea Second Young Master had brought him, his expression turning extremely calm.
Of course—he thought—even as a puppet emperor, he was just an ordinary minister close to the throne.
What right did he have to receive the emperor’s favor?
So Second Young Master had come all this way just for gossip? Was that it?
“Otherwise?”
Jin Yi looked completely at ease.
“If I didn’t come to see you for this, then you should be scared, right?”
He spoke with unshakable logic: “Then wouldn’t you have to worry whether you were about to be forced into something?”
“…Isn’t Ning into women?”
Hua Zi gave a look of disbelief.
Really, who didn’t know this guy’s preference?
Jin Yi made a small sound.
“You sure know me well.”
…Otherwise, how could he be a minister close to the emperor?
Hua Zi took another sip, not hiding anything.
“Yeah, that’s my brother. My mom, when she looked up words in the dictionary to name me, people always said, ‘Why not call him Waltz?’ After my brother was born, she figured, might as well just name him that.”
Jin Yi’s heart relaxed.
“All right, I’ll take care of him when I get the chance.”
Hua Zi watched him leave after just getting the gossip, speechless for a moment.
…So Ning really did come just for gossip?
Fan Qing had someone check on Yuan Jing again, just to be thorough.
With so many tasks piling up, he soon found himself swamped again.
Tenghuang had signed new recruits, which meant his workload had increased.
Finally, after wrapping up work for a bit, Fan Qing glanced at the time—already seven in the evening.
He stood up, and his stomach rumbled.
He froze.
Why hadn’t his alarm gone off?
At this hour, preparing dinner was already cutting it too close.
Sighing, Fan Qing weighed his options.
He had mentally prepared for the busyness after taking over Tenghuang, but the reality was still a headache.
Money was coming in, but his health hadn’t caught up.
After some consideration, he decided to occasionally order delivery.
But before that…
He pulled out his phone.
Scrolling through the latest updates online, he saw that although Jing Yuan hadn’t fully bounced back with Zhuo’s backing, he had retained a good portion of his fans.
Some fans had unfollowed due to his slight drop in popularity, but overall, many still chose to believe his “victim” narrative.
And with Jing Yun immediately signing a new endorsement, it practically told fans he was fine and could still be followed.
All in all, Jing Yuan was still relatively untouchable for now.
“Looks like until Zhuo Yuan is dealt with, Jing Yuan won’t be easy to move.”
Fan Qing considered this, not overly disappointed.
Ever since he anticipated that Jing Yuan would choose Zhuo as his support, he had expected this result.
No surprise there.
Just as he approached the elevator, Fan Qing suddenly remembered something.
Since Jing Yuan hadn’t been dealt with yet, that meant if he got close to Nie Luo, Nie Luo would still be in danger.
And now, Jing Yuan couldn’t access Nie Luo’s resources.
If he were Jing Yuan, he’d definitely look for an opportunity to target Nie Luo.
Better remind Nie Luo again…
“Bang.”
A loud noise.
What was that?
Fan Qing grabbed the elevator railing. The next second, the lights flickered twice.
Dark.
He waited a moment, but the elevator remained completely still.
Elevator malfunction?
Fan Qing frowned.
He was about to pull out his phone for light—
Right, he had been holding it earlier.
He searched carefully with his foot.
Found it.
He cautiously touched the phone.
The screen was shattered.
Probably unlucky during the fall—the phone broke.
Fan Qing sighed.
Luckily, he had used the elevator’s emergency call system to contact someone.
As soon as the maintenance supervisor heard Fan Qing was trapped inside, his soul nearly flew out of his body.
“Fan Manager, please wait! I’ll immediately send someone to fix it!”
God, who doesn’t know this is the regent prince?
Better not make him angry!
“Mm.”
Hoping the supervisor would be more diligent in the future, Fan Qing replied coolly, pocketing his phone to wait.
After a while, he even felt a little amused.
Good thing he had checked Weibo before ordering delivery—otherwise, the food would arrive, and they wouldn’t be able to find him, probably driving the delivery person insane.